New study shows that almost all political tweets come from a tiny fraction of Twitter users. Does this mean that America is not as divided as we’d think from scanning social media? Should government step in to stop these bad actors from splitting our Republic, risking a civil war? How can you guard against being used by these characters in ways that make you, unwittingly, part of what’s tearing our country apart?
Binge-watch the entire archive of Bill Whittle Now with Scott Ott.
10 replies on “Study: Tiny Fraction of Twitter Users Do Vast Majority of Political Tweets”
Thanks for adding the audio version. It’ll make listening while driving easier & safer!!
Bill’s insightful description of cascading rage on Twaddle triggered (SWIDT) a lot of new ideas for me.
But I wonder if the small, angry subset of social media actually represents a larger population in the online participants. Frankly, many participants don’t want to express opinions that they know will generate negative feedback. They let the vocal and angry voices speak for them.
I think this is true for both liberal and conservative members.
If someone already voices my viewpoint, and that viewpoint could, if identified with me, cause me hardship, I’ll likely let the flamethrower throw flames and be content to watch the smoke.
Contrary to the belief that we’re anonymous on the interwebs, we’re still vulnerable and recognizable. We may agree with one side or the other, but live, as Falstaff would say, “with the better part of valor.”
In other words, maybe a much larger proportion of Twaddle and Faceplant users vicariously hide behind the vocal and radical members who say what the others wish they could find the courage (or the effrontery) to say. That would imply that there really exists a visceral and sweeping chasm between us and that the ranks are as large as they sometimes feel.
And there we find ourselves in the original pot, stewing along with the rest of the vegetables, waiting for the pot to boil over.
The other approach is to ask people who taught you conservatism = fascism? Who taught you the KKK = Republicans? Who taught you to delete the socialist workers in National Socialist Workers Party; NAZI?
Always count YouTube versions and the ones here before thinking your being shadow banned. We can’t watch both. Hundreds of YouTubers have made the mistake of creating off YouTube sites and noticing a fall on YouTube.
I don’t want Twitter limiting free speech; I want them to allow everyone’s free speech, not just the speech they like. The Left controls these media outlets and they knowingly and willingly control the media to control the narrative. They don’t even try to hide this. And the reason is to control public opinion so they can win votes and eventual power. As with the regular media, I don’t want a Right or Left control of any media. I want a neutral media that presents both sides. I am not for censoring Leftist commentary. But by the same token, the suppression of conservative expression is being done and it is heinous. By blocking people and “demonetizing” people, these media control agencies are controlling the use of free speech. But people without principles who think only with emotion are most vulnerable to bias and controlling others.
Bill alluded that Twitter allowed – maybe even mandated – that the first thought to be thought – usually emotionally derived – was the way to go on this medium.
This validation of emotion as an argument, rather than the second, more rational thought, is dangerous, because it allows emotion to be used as an argument elsewhere, on other mediums. But people grow bored with anger and outrage. Well, I do…
But then, I’m not a twitter user… BTW, not too much of a Facebook user, either, not at all a Millennial for that matter…
Let’s train our young in rational thought, discussion, argument, which often gives rise to emotion, but leads to more thought in the end.
Twitter was fun years ago. Then they started “improving” it and after they’d improved it they had to start “fixing” it. Now it’s so fixed that I lost interest and barely pay any attention to it at all. On a side note, I downloaded my twitter data a while back and what they think my interests are is hilarious. Businesses who buy targeted ads on Twitter are being taken for suckers.
Youtube is going down the same road. The recommendation algorithm is so bad that I hate to click on a video by someone I haven’t watched before.
When you’re shaving, look in that mirror and say “It doesn’t matter what 60% of Millennials want. I am NOT going to live in Iran.” And then do those push ups.
Twitter is nothing but mob action made global. Now we know it is a very small mob.
Mobs don’t think, they act. Mobs don’t judge, they act. Mobs don’t consider anything with due care, they act. Mobs don’t care, they are angry and act upon that anger.
The video’s thumbnail. It looks like Travolta from the Blowout 1-sheet. Combined w/ the Obey style art.
https://images.app.goo.gl/JgPAm2E4QX6BBvqt6